


disaster (dɪˈzɑːstə/), noun: a perfect union in waiting

by orphan_account



Category: Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: Bickering, F/F, Femslash, First Time, Genderswap
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-01
Updated: 2018-01-01
Packaged: 2019-02-26 11:59:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13235283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: After bonding via email and letter correspondence, Newt and Hermione finally meet face to face for the first time. It doesn't go as they expected.





	disaster (dɪˈzɑːstə/), noun: a perfect union in waiting

**Author's Note:**

> This is my Pacific Rim holiday swap fic for [femvimes](http://femvimes.tumblr.com)! Thanks so much for your prompt, I hope you enjoy the result. :)
> 
> Thanks to cy [cypress-tree](http://cypress-tree.tumblr.com) for being a great beta, as always.

Dear Dr. Gottlieb,

I saw your article in Orion Monthly and loved your theory on kaiju attack patterns. There's very few people doing predictive modeling on the way they behave; most people are still working under the assumption that they're wild animals with no higher intelligence. I don't buy it anymore. Your article really brought up so many good points on why we need to start considering them intelligent predators. I'm doing some research of my own on kaiju behavioral paradigms right now and would love to exchange notes. Do you have an email address I can reach you on?

Best,

Dr. Newt Geiszler

+++

Newt fidgeted in her bus seat, swiping over her phone screen to make sure the backlight didn't turn off and she could keep an eye on the clock. She had tried so hard to be on time for this, even got up at a ridiculously early time in the morning so she wouldn't miss it. Of course it had all been for nothing anyway because there was not a single bus in Boston that ever stopped at the time it was projected to stop.

If she only had Hermione's cell phone number, then she could at least text her. But neither of them ever thought to ask for numbers before making plans to meet up, because they always spoke via letter or email. Hermione was weirdly old-fashioned about modes of communication, and Newt would be lying if she said she didn't find that adorable.

She scowled out of the window and tried to covertly rearrange her hair in her reflection. Most days, Newt would rather die than admit that she was out to impress anyone, but Hermione was-- different. For Hermione, she actually bothered to worry about being late.

Once she got close to the bar where they had agreed to meet, Newt mashed the stop button aggressively. _A popular first date spot for students_ , her mind not-so-helpfully supplied and she bit down on her lower lip to contain the nervous butterflies in her stomach. _This isn't a date_ , she reminded herself. _This is a friendly first time meeting between two colleagues_.

The fact that she wore her best first-date clothes and paid a small fortune for a hair appointment this morning happened to be a complete coincidence.

It only occurred to her that she had no way to actually identify Hermione once she was already pushing open the heavy oak doors leading to the bar interior. Newt had pictures of herself all over her social media and kind of assumed Hermione would just come up to her first but the timing issues destroyed that plan.

She swept her eyes over the crowd and tried to figure out what a decorated genius-level physicist with an acerbic wit might look like. No one jumped out at her, so she grinded her teeth and made for the bar in the hopes of presenting an obvious target. Her hand nervously twirled the lock of hair over her ear over and over, fluttering with the lack of something to do.

She didn’t have to wait all that long. The bartender was just in the middle of pushing her drink over the bar when someone tapped her on the shoulder.

"Newt?"

The voice was unmistakably the same voice that Newt had listened to an embarrassing number of times on the only "Science Today" podcast episode she had downloaded on her phone.She whipped around, nearly knocking someone's drink out of their hand and stared at the person who spoke.

Hermione was taller than her (not by much, but Newt immediately categorized it anyway). Her hair was short and dark and stuck up slightly at the sides, and Newt's eyes were immediately drawn to the cowlick at the back, just barely visible over the top of Hermione's head. She was wearing brown slacks and and a sweater vest, and the white shirt underneath had clearly been ironed. Newt immediately began to tug at the creases on her own shirt.

Hermione's eyes were large and brown, and fixed on Newt's face with what looked like-- annoyance? Newt jolted to life, and caught the last few words of what Hermione said.

"--reason for being so late?"

Newt blinked at the cold tone, taken aback. She smiled uncertainly, and felt it waver when Hermione's mouth remained stubbornly pursed.

"I'm really sorry," she said, the words pouring out of her mouth faster than she intended. "I totally left on time, but I don't have a car and the buses here are terrible and made me wait at the bus stop for over half an hour, and then the traffic congestion was really bad... Did you have to wait long?"

Hermione's gaze softened. Her wide mouth relaxed into an almost imperceptible smile.

"Almost an hour," she said, her voice dry. "I was just about to give up and leave when I saw you at the bar."

"Yeah, sorry about that. I only realized that I had no idea what you looked like when I arrived, so..."

Hermione raised her eyebrows. "I suppose I should have emailed a picture beforehand. That was a mistake on my behalf, I apologize."

 _Or just have a Facebook profile like every other normal person your age_ , Newt thought, her inner voice tinged with the slightest bit of hysteria. _How am I supposed to stalk you if your online presence is literally non-existent?_ She didn't voice any of that, instead smiling awkwardly at Hermione.

"No harm done. Do you want a drink? I ordered this thing called "Sex on a Crocodile" which sounds amazing to be honest."

"No thank you," Hermione said, her voice flat. "I don't drink."

The refusal took the wind out of Newt's sails. It wasn’t that she needed alcohol to brave social situations, exactly, it was just-- she certainly did better when everyone involved in the interaction didn't possess their full rational faculties.

"Okay, that's cool," she said, scratching nervously at her arm. "Um, any special reason?"

"It interferes with my medication," Hermione said. Newt's gaze unintentionally strayed downwards to the cane Hermione was leaning on, and when it traveled back up, Hermione's facial expression had definitely cooled by several degrees. Newt winced internally. _Good going, genius_ , she chastised herself. _It's been what, five minutes? And you've already managed to offend her somehow_.

"Oh, okay, yeah, that's fine, it's all fine, don't worry," she babbled, unable to stop the stream of words coming out of her mouth. She realized too late that the amount of affirmations that she was totally fine with it might in fact be sending the opposite signal. Hermione's mouth started to turn downwards, but she sat next to Newt anyway.

"So!" Newt exclaimed with forced cheer, desperate to change the topic. "Have you heard about the new rumours regarding kaiju intel? Seems like they're no closer to a working predictive model than they were a couple of months ago."

Hermione's eyes lit up, and Newt congratulated herself on the choice of topic.

"I'm not surprised," Hermione said with clear condescension in her voice. "I looked over their current work and it's riddled with errors. I've offered my help several times, but it seems my previous work on predictive modeling of artificial intelligence growth wasn't impressive enough for them."

"That's so wild," Newt said, "because I may not understand a lot of it, but what I saw looked amazing."

"Well," Hermione drawled, bitterness evident in her voice, "the PPDC has always been a boy's club."

"Aw, man," Newt said, "that's not really true though, is it? I mean, Caitlin Lightcap is out there on the forefront doing weird science and stuff."

"That's one counter-example," Hermann said, her mouth a thin, flat line. "If you tallied the amount of men and the amount of women employed in the PPDC at this moment in time, the disparity would be shameful."

Newt shrugged. "I just think it's a bit defeatist to let your gender bar you from getting what you want." She had meant it to be an inspirational comment, motivating Hermione to continue reaching for the stars, but that was clearly not how it had come across. Hermione's eyes flashed dangerously.

"I'm not the one barring myself," she said, her voice dangerously low.

"No, of course not!" Newt hastened to correct herself. "I didn't mean it that way I just think-- shit, man, if I moped every time I got rejected for being a chick, I would have no time to get anything done, you know? Just keep showing them up by being better than them and they'll have to hire you eventually! I believe in you, dude."

This seemed to mollify Hermione somewhat, though the corners of her mouth were still downturned in an irked way. "Please don't call me dude," she said quietly.

"Sure thing, man," Newt said and smiled her best approximation of a friendly, non-threatening smile. She couldn't quite place Hermione's low sigh, so she decided to ignore it for now.

"Anyway, I've been hitting a total wall, too. I keep writing to them asking for more information on their kaiju samples, because, like, these things evolve so fast? By the time they make this stuff available to the public it's already outdated. But they're stonewalling me."

Hermione gave an annoyed huff, and Newt was emboldened by her support.

"I mean, this is the coolest thing that has happened in xenobiology since forever and--"

"Excuse me?" Hermione spat, her back suddenly ramrod straight.

"What?" Newt asked, confused.

"Did you just call these monsters... 'cool'?" Out of Hermione’s mouth the word sounded like the highest praise rather than an offhand comment.

"I mean, yeah?" Newt said, somewhat taken aback. "They are? It's like something out of a science fiction writer's wet dream. Like, obviously they're terrible and stuff--"

"Obviously," Hermione interjected, her tone venomous.

"--but that doesn't mean I don't find them super fascinating on a personal level," Newt finished undeterred, feeling her hackles rise. "I mean, it's alien life! Don't you find it fascinating?"

"No, Newtonia," Hermione said. The sound of her full name made Newt rear back like she'd been slapped. "I do not, in fact, find the beings which have slaughtered countless people 'fascinating'."

An awkward silence descended between them, and Newt chewed on her lower lip helplessly, at a loss of what to say.

"Look," she began, just as Hermione said: "I think this was a mistake."

"What?" Newt said, but Hermione was already sliding off the bar stool, her brogues making a loud sound as they connected with the marble floor.

"Hey, no, wait," Newt said, "I think you misunderstood me, man!"

"I understood you perfectly well, Dr. Geiszler," Hermione said coldly. "Perhaps in the future we should limit our correspondence to the scientifically necessary." And with those words, she turned on her heel and stalked out of the bar.

Newt stayed behind, dumbfounded. The entire encounter had lasted less than ten minutes and yet she felt like she had been hit by a freight train. Her drink sat untouched on the bar next to her.

“Whoops,” the bartender said and gave her a pitying look. “Bit unfair of the chick if you ask me. I knew what you meant. Want something stronger?”

“Sure,” Newt said, defeated.

On the list of worst first dates she's ever been on-- _not a date_ , her mind supplied again-- this wasn't the worst per se, but... it was definitely up there.

+++

 **From:** hermione.gottlieb@berlin-tu.edu

 **To:** newtoniageiszler@mit.edu

 **Subject:** RE: RE: March Article In Science Horizons

Dear Dr. Geiszler,

the discovery of the Breach changes everything. I am very much hoping you feel vindicated right now, after all you put forth a theory on presumed extraterrestrial origins months ago.

I very much look forward to collaborating with you on this new, groundbreaking information.

Breathlessly,

Dr. Hermione Gottlieb

 **From:** newtoniageiszler@mit.edu

 **To:** hermione.gottlieb@berlin.edu

 **Subject:** RE: RE: RE: March Article In Science Horizons

Hermione,

MY MIND IS BLOWN! Will email you some stuff I've drawn up ASAP, just gotta scan it. Also, please stop calling me Dr. Geiszler. Only my mother calls me that.

xoxo,

Newt

+++

"I don't care how many medals he has," Newt yelled over the whirring of her centrifuge. "I'm not going to base my life decisions on what some dude tells me I should do!"

"That 'dude' happens to be your superior and employer," Hermione spat back, not even having to strain to be heard over the volume of the lab equipment. "So he's perfectly within his rights to tell you what to do!"

"My idea could save us all," Newt said, hating how her voice wavered, how much her eyes stung with unshed tears. Being an angry crier was the bane of her existence. As if people didn't already struggle to take her seriously.

"Your idea is dangerous poppycock," Hermione replied coldly, using her cane to punctuate the words. "I refuse to talk about it further."

"Whatever" Newt turned back to her dissection table. "Guess who's _not_ going to be invited when I'm a rockstar and get to go to all the fancy parties?" She knew Hermione couldn't hear her, but it felt satisfying anyway. Rage coursed low in her belly like a forest fire. The way Hermione had undermined her in front of Pentecost stung more than Newt wanted to admit. Even though they had yet to get through a day without an incident and barely managed to be civil to each other at the best of times, Newt still felt some intangible bond with Hermione. Even more so since the PPDC's scientific division had shrunk to just the two of them against a board of unimpressed men whose only hobby in life seemed to be to cut their funding.

The fact that Hermione didn't seem to value their relationship in the same way was salt in the wound that had opened many years ago in an overpriced Boston bar.

Newt angrily blinked unshed tears out of her eyes. It didn't matter in the end. Newt's plan was going to succeed and she was going to show everyone who hadn't believed in her just how smart and capable she was. She would save the goddamn world.

Newt padded absentmindedly along her desk for her notebook, her brain already deep in planning mode. She tugged out one of the pens tangled in her more-than-messy bun and began scribbling furiously, a plan slowly taking form out of pencil sketches on paper.

The design was deceptively simple and wouldn't be hard to put together. Getting the proper materials together might be a bit of an issue, but then again, she had always been good at picking locks. All that remained was waiting for Hermione to retire to bed, which she did at the same time every single night, for medication reasons. Not long now.

Newt grinned. This was going to be the highlight of her entire career.

The sound of chalk on blackboard stopped, like clockwork, at exactly 10:30PM. She could hear Hermione clambering down her ladder and was careful not to look in her direction, afraid that her face would somehow give her entire plan away.

Hermione pointedly did not say good night and Newt didn't bother to call her out on it. _Let her sulk_ , she thought to herself. _This is all going to be over soon anyway._

It was distressingly easy to get into the PPDC's requisition area, even easier to crack the locks on the cages holding the high value items. When she was done saving the world she would need to have a chat about Shatterdome security with Pentecost.

When she returned, the lab was dark and deserted. The light flickered ominously when she flipped the light switch and Newt couldn't help but appreciate the dramatic mood it set.

Lugging all the equipment through the Shatterdome had made her arms hurt, and she dearly wished she had done more arm reps during her mandatory physicals. But the work was only just starting and she had very little time before Hermione would arrive at the lab again at 7AM sharp.

She wiped sweat from her forehead and began to work. It didn't take long until she was up to her elbows in grease, dress shirt long abandoned on the lab bench. Her undershirt stuck to her skin with sweat and the knot of her tie had come loose. It didn't matter. She was almost done.

The only thing left to do was hook the apparatus up to the remains of the kaiju brain and then herself.

The first jitters of nervousness were beginning to set in. Newt bit her lip and tried to will them away. Every single one of Hermione's predictions of how this would go horribly wrong was playing on repeat in her head. The way her brain got Hermione's stupid precise diction perfectly right was seriously scary sometimes.

Newt angrily jammed the plug into the socket with perhaps a little more force than was strictly necessary. Hermione was wrong. This would work. She would find the kaiju's weakness and help the PPDC to victory. She had to. If Hermione was right about her predictions (and she was right about almost any topic that didn't concern Newt's hair, Newt's music taste, appropriate lab attire and biology), then they didn't have much time left.

Newt turned on the drifting apparatus. The blue light of the display was so bright that she winced and shielded her eyes. It only took seconds to sync. Newt's hands shook as she put on the squid cap.

The click of her recorder was loud in the silence of the lab.

"Alright, kaiju drift experiment is a-go. Um, the brain's not complete so we might not get a 100% sync rate but I should be able to extract some information anyway. Hold for more commentary after experiment completion. Also, uh, Hermione, if you're listening to this? I'd like you to know I'm sorry for whatever it is that I said that day in the bar. Really."

She stopped the recording, unsure herself where that last bit had come from. Her fingers felt clumsy, her tongue thick in her mouth. The LED display of the drifting apparatus was blinking at her, an almost hypnotic blue.

"Time to face the music, baby," Newt whispered to herself, and initiated the drift.

+++

 **From:** goldenratio1989@gmail.com

 **To:** newtzilla69@gmail.com

 **Subject:** RE: RE: RE: look at this cat video

Dear Newt,

thank you for your kind words this morning. I very much appreciated them. My father can be difficult, I'm certainly used to that, it's just frustrating to be blocked by him at every turn when the matter at hand is so time sensitive. I'm glad to have you to talk to. It helps me keep focused on my goal.

Hope you're well,

Hermione

 **From:** newtzilla69@gmail.com

 **To:** goldenratio1989@gmail.com

 **Subject:** RE: RE: RE: RE: look at this cat video

Hey Herms,

no biggie, anytime. Let me know if you want me to fly over and punch him, btw. Also, you're awesome and he sucks and you're gonna save the world. We're gonna save the world. Well, mainly me, but you can help.

Love,

Newt

+++

The frozen display of the large clock over the Shatterdome's main hall door still made Newt blink every time she looked at it. She was so used to seeing time tick away on it slowly, counting down the seconds until their eventual demise. The still rows of zeroes felt unreal, barely tethered in reality.

Her vision was blurry with lack of sleep and alcohol. She was also sure that her eye didn't escape the drift entirely undamaged, but that would be a problem for later.

 _The drift with Hermione_.

Hermione who had found her, held her, worried about her. Hermione, who had been willing to risk so much to save her, who had pulled her close, her sweater vest coarse against Newt's face.

Heat rushed into Newt's cheeks as she remembered how it had felt to be so near her. She fiddled nervously with a button on her shirt and scanned the crowd for a familiar head of short, brown hair. Hermione had silently disappeared from Newt's side during the initial rush of relieved Shatterdome inhabitants towards the mess hall, and Newt hadn't seen her since.

She wanted to talk to her. Not because there was anything to say, not anymore. She knew everything that Hermione had ever mumbled behind Newt's back, kept herself from saying, backspaced in emails. It was laid out in her head like a vast cathedral of trust, of intimacy.

She just needed to hear Hermione’s voice; that crisp cadence that always somehow managed to sound annoyed. Needed to see her dimples and the slight crease she got between her eyebrows whenever she talked about something particularly interesting.

Newt peeled absent-mindedly at the label on her beer. She knew Hermione wouldn't be anywhere near the 'We Survived The End of The World' party; she couldn't stand noise and loud music. Where would Hermione disappear to if she wanted to avoid the Shatterdome crowds?

Five minutes later, Newt was climbing the steps to the observatory, her boots dragging over the ridiculous number of steps. How Hermione managed to make the trek up there on a regular basis, Newt would never understand. She already complained about the few steps leading up to LOCCENT.

The room was dark and at first Newt thought she must have been mistaken. But then she spotted the small, dark shape huddled against the side of the viewing platform. She slowly made her way towards Hermione, making sure that her steps were loud enough to announce her arrival.

Hermione didn't say anything, didn't even move. She also didn't complain when Newt sat down next to her, so Newt took that as silent approval.They sat in silence for a while, then Newt shifted towards her and nudged her slightly with her elbow.

"So... we're heroes now, I guess."

Hermione turned slightly and regarded Newt out of the corner of her eyes. She was still wearing that ridiculous overlarge parka, the hood bathing her face in shadow. Only her ridiculously long eyelashes stood out in the moonlight. Newt's chest went tight with affection.

"I suppose so," Hermione said, drawing out the vowels. "Though you really did most of the work involved."

Newt grinned. "If I didn't have you to grump at me all the time I never would have gotten anything done, so you definitely deserve at least some credit."

That finally got a smile out of Hermione. "Well, I'm glad to be a footnote in your biography."

" _Dude_ ," Newt said, with feeling. "You know you're more than that."

"Am I?"

"Yeah," Newt said, and inhaled deeply. Then she leaned forwards and kissed her.

Or attempted to, at least. What actually happened was that she closed her eyes way too soon and pressed her lips to what turned out to be Hermione's chin. Hermione snorted and gently pushed her away, her eyes sparkling with mirth.

"I'm usually better than this," Newt mumbled, her ears burning with embarrassment. She looked down at the rip on her jeans and tried valiantly to sink into the ground.

"I'm sure," Hermione said, her hand twining around Newt's tie. Her fingers found Newt's jaw, and she gently directed her gaze back up.

"Didn't they teach you to always validate conclusions multiple times at that famous university of yours?" she said, her voice low.

Newt flushed again, for a different reason this time. "Right," she said, her voice hoarse. "Gotta apply the scientific method."

She leaned in again, her eyes open this time. The second attempt was much more successful. She pressed her mouth gently against Hermione's, first her upper lip, then her lower lip, watching the light move in Hermione's eyes.

She'd never kissed anyone like this before: open, without hiding. It was terrifying. She loved it. They traded simple, closed-mouthed kisses for a while, their breath visible in the cold night air. Newt didn't even care about the cold stone floor or the goosebumps on her arms; she was far too busy marveling at how soft Hermione's earlobes were or how lovely her sigh sounded whenever Newt stroked them.

"You're like, really pretty," she murmured, staring transfixed at Hermione's large brown eyes, the red ring around the left one making her dizzy with everything it signified.

Hermione grinned, the smile lines around her mouth doing weird things to Newt’s stomach.

"I can't say the same about you, but you're a good kisser at least," she said. Newt thwacked her on the arm.

"Don't ruin the romance!"

"I didn't peg you for a romantic, Dr. Geiszler."

"Yeah, well, maybe you don't know me as well as you think you do, Dr. Gottlieb."

"Yes, I do," Hermione said quietly. All traces of humor had left her voice, her eyes wide and serious. "I do."

This time, Hermione kissed her open-mouthed, desperate. Her tongue was hot against Newt's own, making her shiver and curl her hands tighter into Hermione's collar. When her eyes slipped close this time, she didn't fight it.

"I've wanted to do this for a very long time," Hermione said.

Newt smiled. "I know."

Hermione huffed out a short laugh. "I am probably going to regret entrusting you with my life's secrets sooner or later, aren't I?"

"I'm a great secret keeper," Newt said very earnestly, placing her hand over her heart. "Anyway, if I spill the beans you can just expose me right back. Mutual blackmail."

"That sounds like a healthy foundation for a relationship," Hermione said, her tone dry. Her hand was warm around Newt's own though, so Newt counted that one as a win.

+++

 **From:** goldenratio1989@gmail.com

 **To:** newtzilla69@gmail.com

 **Subject:** April Opportunity

Dear Newt,

I happen to be attending a conference in Boston in April. I know your university campus is located near there and I happen to have some free time on the second day of the conference-- would you by any chance be amenable to meeting up?

Please do let me know if I am overstepping my bounds. I just thought it would be nice to meet in person.

Awaiting your reply,

Hermione

 **From:** newtzilla69@gmail.com

 **To:** goldenratio1989@gmail.com

 **Subject:** RE: April Opportunity

Dear Hermione,

Oh. My. God. Yes. That would be awesome!! Email me all the details, I'll find us a cool spot to meet!

Looking forward to seeing you!! :)

Newt


End file.
